The United States’ rapidly declining crude oil supply has made a stunning about-face, shredding federal oil projections and putting energy independence in sight of some analyst forecasts.After declining to levels not seen since the 1940s, U.S. crude production began rising again in 2009. Drilling rigs have rushed into the nation’s oil fields, suggesting a surge in domestic crude is on the horizon.

The number of rigs in U.S. oil fields has more than quad­rupled in the past three years to 1,272, according to the Baker Hughes rig count. Including those in natural gas fields, the United States now has more rigs at work than the entire rest of the world.

“It’s staggering,” said Marshall Adkins, who directs energy research for the financial services firm Raymond James. “If we continue growing anywhere near that pace and keep squeezing demand out of the system, that puts you in a world where we are not importing oil in 10 years.”

There are doubts that energy independence is that close. But many say the booming shale oil fields in Texas and North Dakota and the growth of deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico will allow the nation to cut its reliance on oil imports significantly over the next couple of decades.

But wait…Republicans have told us that increasing oil production now will lower gas prices now. Certainly Johnny Volcano and Moose Lady ran on a platform like this in 2008. And yet…gas prices are now going up. [Read the complete article…]

Politics

…You see, Santorum’s dogma insists that man is at the center, and the earth is God’s gift to man, there to be exploited in our role as proper “stewards” of God’s bountiful gift. Mr Obama, Saint Rick claims, insists on putting the earth at the center while man is subservient. Never mind that there’s no evidence Mr. Obama has ever believed, said or suggested anything of the kind. The GOP has invented a grossly distorted caricature of Mr. Obama, because the real one does not suit, and the one that repeatedly frustrates environmentalists is inconceivable to them.In Santorum’s remarks, we see the basis of the corporate conservative attack on the EPA, most environmental regulation and any acknowledgment that global climate change is happening, that man is responsible, or that it might be a threat to humans.

If God put the earth here for our needs, and we are righteous, it’s inconceivable in Santorum’s philosophy that man could have abused his stewardship to a degree that abuse has become a threat to humans. Obama and “environmentalists” have it backwards, he insists.

Santorum’s religious dogma is frightening enough, as views like his have, when taken to their logical ends, justified hateful intolerance, discrimination, inquisitions, torture, religious wars, and murderous crusades — and of course Santorum has already told us that the righteous Crusaders were unfairly maligned. The First Amendment was added to protect us from zealots like Rick Santorum. But his anti-environmental dogma may prove to be just as dangerous for humans…[read the complete article…]

Energy

The Culture Wars

I’ve written a lot lately about the issues in our media regarding the religious right’s attack on women, their reproductive systems and the misogynist comments made by religious leaders and politicians here in these United States. It’s not difficult at all to find them because misogyny is rampant in our society. Just consider the almost endless coverage of fetal personhood bills, laws restricting abortion and the plethora of other stories we read every day that make us shake our heads.

Misogyny is the sole reason why there exists gender inequality in almost every area of life, and it almost always comes back to Christianity’s doctrines that surround guilt about sex, the insistence on female subjection and the dread of female seduction. I have had many Christian men and women tell me that their religion is not misogynist, and that they revere women and that their religion fosters a respect for the female sex for a variety of reasons.